1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid transporting apparatus and a method of producing a liquid transporting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as an ink-jet head jetting ink droplets, there has been known an ink-jet head including a piezoelectric actuator which applies a jetting pressure to ink in pressure chambers constituting part of ink channels.
For example, an ink-jet head shown in FIG. 4 of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0068379 A1 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-125773) includes: a channel unit in which a plurality of nozzles and channels including a plurality of pressure chambers communicating with the nozzles respectively and so on are formed; and a piezoelectric actuator disposed on a surface of the channel unit. The piezoelectric actuator includes: a vibration plate covering the pressure chambers; and a plurality of stacked piezoelectric elements discretely arranged on areas, of the vibration plate, facing the pressure chambers. In each of the piezoelectric elements, a plurality of internal electrodes are provided to cause an electric field to act in a thickness direction, and these internal electrodes are electrically conducted with individual electrodes on surfaces of the piezoelectric elements and with the vibration plate as a common electrode of the piezoelectric elements. Further, a flexible wiring member (flexible board (FPC)) is electrically connected to the individual electrodes of the piezoelectric elements. When a driving voltage is applied to the individual electrodes via the FPC, the piezoelectric elements contracts in the stacking direction, and accordingly, the vibration plate deforms to change an inner volume of the pressure chamber, thereby applying the pressure to the ink in the pressure chamber. In the piezoelectric actuator with such a structure, since the piezoelectric elements adjacent to each other are separated, the deformation of the piezoelectric elements to which the driving voltage is applied does not easily spread to the adjacent piezoelectric elements, which is advantageous in that crosstalk is small.
In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0068379 as described above, however, since the FPC supplying the driving voltage to the piezoelectric actuator is bonded only by solder or the like to the individual electrodes of the discretely arranged piezoelectric elements, a bonding area between the FPC and the piezoelectric elements is small. Therefore, the FPC easily peels off from the piezoelectric elements when some external force acts on the FPC during production processes. Further, the external force acting on the FPC may act locally on a specific one of the piezoelectric elements to break the piezoelectric element. This has been one of causes of a decrease in production yields. Further, since the piezoelectric elements are provided on the vibration plate to be isolated from one another, a bonding area between the vibration plate and each of the piezoelectric elements is small. Therefore, when an external force acts between the piezoelectric elements and the vibration plate on which the piezoelectric elements are provided, the piezoelectric elements may peel off separately from the vibration plate.